Former YPD officer could face more charges
More charges may be filed against the former Yuma police officer accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old girl, his defense attorney said Thursday during a hearing in Yuma County Superior Court.
In providing the court with an update on the status of the case against his client, Bobby Garcia, attorney Dave Shapiro of the Yuma County Legal Defender’s Office said that it was his understanding that the prosecution is preparing a third case.
As such, he continued, he was requesting a lengthy continuance in order to prepare for it if it does happen.
“This will be an ongoing matter,” Shapiro said.
Garcia currently has two cases pending against him, with Shapiro representing him in one in which he has been charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Attorney Michael Donovan represents Garcia in a case in which he has been charged with 15 counts of sexual conduct with a minor, four counts of furnishing obscene material to a minor, one count of tampering with evidence and nine counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Upon hearing no objection from the prosecution, Superior Court Judge Roger Nelson granted Shapiro’s request and scheduled Garcia’s next hearing for 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 17.
Shapiro added that if a third case is filed against his client he would also be asking for a settlement conference.
Garcia, who is out of custody after posting a $100,000 bond, appeared in person at the hearing.
In May 2019, YPD reported that it was investigating a complaint that one of its officers engaged in sexual conduct with a minor between 2017 and 2018. The officer’s identity was not released at the time.
But he was later identified by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training (AZPOST) Board during its Nov. 20, 2019 meeting.
During the AZPOST board meeting Garcia denied any personal or sexual relationship with the girl. However, information extracted from the girl’s phone contradicted statements he had made.
Phone records indicated that Garcia had allegedly been communicating with the teenager and he had even asked her to send him a video of her “twerking” and other pictures. Those same phone records also showed that the teen once had brought the officer beer at his private residence, police said.
At the time of the incident Garcia was assigned as a Neighborhood School Resource Officer (NSRO), but not assigned to a particular school. His duties were to assist schools that did not have an SRO assigned to them.
The former officer’s cell phone was also seized under a warrant but it could not initially be unlocked by either the crime labs of the Department of Public Safety nor the FBI because Garcia refused to provide the PIN for it.
The investigation into Garcia included an extensive forensic analysis of cellphone records and various forms of digital media, and took months to complete.
Garcia was hired by the Yuma Police Department on June 15, 2015